This invention relates generally to jewelry and more particularly to an ornamental article interconvertible from a ring to a pendant.
Pendants which allow a variety of centerpieces are known in the prior art. French Pat. No. 699,074 is such a device in which a tongue-and-groove mechanism allows the centerpiece to be removed or inserted easily.
Finger rings in the prior art have been devised so as to offer a convenient means of altering the diameter of the shank portion as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,548,645 and 3,959,989.
Convertible rings also exist in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,621 may be converted for use as a lapel pin; U.S. Pat. No. 1,920,875 may be converted for use as a jewelry clip. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 1,548,645 which allows the orientation of the gem mount portion to be changed relative to the plane of the ring band portion.
Numerous examples of ring-pendants may also be found in the prior art. Certain of these, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,737, require that the centerpiece be detached from the ring band prior to its use as a pendant. Another form of ring-pendant, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. D. 272,609, 4,220,017 and 333,448, the gem portion is pivotally mounted between the ends of a generally U-shaped ring band, as is the case in the present invention. However, these devices utilize the palm side of the ring band as the point of insertion for a chain when the device is used as a pendant. Because this is the portion of the ring band which is generally altered when changing the diameter of the ring band, enlarging or reducing the ring band is made more difficult for the craftsman by necessitating the realignment and possible reconstruction of the holes intended for insertion of the chain.
Convertible ring-pendants of the prior art which do not require detachment of the ornamental centerpiece for use as a pendant typically employ a conversion mechanism whereby the ornamental centerpiece hangs at the base of the ring band portion when the device is configured as a pendant, as in French Pat. No. 766,125.